Obscured by Clouds. The rough and ready blog of a cloud benighted biologist and amateur astronomer. Astroblog will cover my interests in astronomy, biology and Life, the Universe and Everything.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The Sky This Week - Thursday May 3 to Thursday May 10

The Full Moon is Sunday May 6. Venus is visible
in the low in the western evening sky close to the star Elnath. Jupiter is lost in the twilight . Mars is in the
eastern evening sky, close to the bright Star Regulus. Saturn is visible the whole night long
near the star Spica. On the 4th the Moon forms a triangle with Saturn and Spica. Mercury is visible in the morning sky.

Evening
sky looking North as seen from Adelaide at 8:00 pm local time on Friday May 4 showing
Mars, Regulus, Saturn and Spica. Similar views will be seen
elsewhere at the equivalent local time. The
inset shows the telescopic appearance of Saturn and it's Moons at this time. Click to embiggen.

The Full Moon is Sunday May 6. The Moon is at perigee, when it is closest to Earth, at this time.

Mars
is in the constellation of Leo. It is the brightest object in
the northern sky, and its distinctive red colour makes it easy
to spot. Mars is rising before sunset and is at its highest in
the northern sky around 8 pm.

Mars is close to the bright star Regulus in Leo. However, it moves away over the week.

Mars
was at opposition on March 4, when it was biggest and brightest as
seen from Earth. Sadly, this is a poor opposition and Mars will be
fairly small in modest telescopes.

Saturn
is above the north-eastern horizon, not far from the bright
star Spica. Saturn is high enough in the northern sky for
telescopic observation in the late evening, rising before 6 pm local
time. Saturn was at opposition, when it is biggest and brightest as
seen from Earth, on the 16th of April, but now is still a great time
for telescopic views of this ringed world.

Morning sky on Sunday May 6
looking east as seen from Adelaide at 6:00 am
local time in South Australia. Similar
views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local
time (click to embiggen)

Mercury is now
visible above the eastern horizon by 5:30 am in the morning.

Mercury is sinking towards the horizon, but is still easily visible this week.

Evening sky on
Saturday May 5 looking north-west as seen from Adelaide at 6:00
pm local time in South Australia showing Venus near the Star
Elnath. The inset shows the appearance of Venus seen
telescopically at this time. Similar views will be
seen elsewhere at the equivalent
local time (click to embiggen)

Bright white Venus is visible in the evening western twilight sky from around half an hour after sunset for around an hour.

Venus
continues to pass through Taurus this week. It comes close to the star Elnath, and is closest on the 7th, when Venus becomes one of the
tips of the horns of the Bull.

Venus is slowly sinking towards
the horizon, and will become more difficult to see. It is a distinct
crescent in even small telescopes now.

Jupiter is lost in the twilight.

With
Mars past opposition and Saturn high in the sky, there are lots of
interesting things in the sky to view with a telescope.
If you don't have a telescope, now is a
good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.